Introduction / Summary (2018): Hello and welcome to our
Sexuality pages. While this is not a pornographic site, it is provocative - founded upon
what people search on the Internet (which is very interesting!). We then
relate this to our biological and cultural evolution.
Sex is obviously important to people - and if you want to improve your sexual
relationships then knowing the truth about our human evolution is the best
foundation. By opening our minds to a greater diversity of behaviors, this
knowledge will help you creatively cultivate healthy pleasurable moral
attitudes and sexy smutty relationships (free from religious
guilt & cultural myths).
Support an open honest discussion on the truth of our sexual evolution and behaviour. If you support sex positive,
moral, informed sexual behaviour please share this knowledge. (These pages
have a diverse collection of fascinating information relating to our human
sexual evolution so people will appreciate it - see our 'nice letters' page!).
Sincerely, Karene.

"It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce." (Voltaire) - "Desire is the essence of a man." (Spinoza)

If
insemination were the sole biological function of sex, it could be achieved
far more economically in a few seconds of mounting and insertion. Indeed,
the least social of mammals mate with scarcely more ceremony. The species
that have evolved long-term bonds are also, by and large, the ones that
rely on elaborate courtship rituals. ... Love and sex do indeed go together.
(Edward O. Wilson, On Human Nature, 1978)

The Evolution of Sexual Reproduction, Human Sexual Behavior & Culture

An essay on the evolution of sex, human sexual behavior and culture from
the Journal of Evolutionary Philosophy, 'Dedicated to promoting
the theory of evolution as a solid foundation upon which to build a meaningful
philosophy of human life.'

Human Evolution: A History of Sex

Evidence that people have been promiscuous for a long time

Lotharios everywhere will be pleased to hear that monogamy does not appear
to be a natural human state. That, at least, is the conclusion of a study
conducted by Michael Hammer at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and
just published in Nature Genetics. By examining the DNA of living people,
Dr Hammer and his colleagues have found that far fewer men than women pass
their genes on to subsequent generations.

A very interesting essay from the journal of Evolutionary Psychology
on sperm competition and its role in shaping the human penis, (size, length,
width, forceful ejaculation), evolutionary strategies for successful fertilization
i.e. semen displacement and coagulation. On sexual intercourse and evolutionary
benefits of deep penis thrusting, function of the foreskin and effects of
circumcision, premature ejaculation, female reproductive strategies i.e.
copulation with multiple partners, human sexual behaviour and wife rape
(males having sex with their partner if suspecting them of infidelity).

For generations, biologists had assumed females to be naturally chaste,
while males were renowned for their promiscuity. Now, hundreds of studies
and a spate of books are challenging that conventional wisdom.
Females of many species have evolved strategies for passing on their genes
that involve copulating with multiple males. Males, in turn, have adapted
ways to ensure that their genes, and not those of competitors, are passed
on. Understanding this co-evolution is changing our view of male and female
sex roles.

Evolution and Group Sex: Successful Sex Strategy to be Last in Line

The early bird might get the worm, but the last in line makes the baby.
From bonobo chimpanzees to fruit flies, many female animals mate with multiple
partners that often queue up for the event. Studies have shown that the
the last male to mate with a female is the most successful at impregnating
her.

The last male can take advantage of a more 'sperm-friendly' environment
created by males that have copulated before him, according to a new model
put forth by David Hosken and David Hodgson of the University of Exeter
in the United Kingdom.

Titalising Tits: Evolution of the Breasts

From the website: 'Breasts can tell you a lot about the woman attached
to them: if they are symmetrical, you can see that she has good genetic
diversity and had little exposure to disease or malnutrition when she was
growing up.

Zoologist Desmond Morris thinks that the human breast may have evolved
to be bigger and rounder to remind men of a woman’s bottom when she
is seen face on. Anthropologist Gillian Bently disagrees. She doesn’t
think that my breasts are round because they are an erotic substitute, but
so I don’t suffocate my babies when I breast feed. Scientist David
Brin, has a different idea about the co-evolution of my breasts - that I
can have my youthful traits (which men find attractive) but still display
my adultness (that I am physically ready to have sex).'

Evolution of Homosexuality / Bisexuality in Animals

The advancing knowledge in behavioral sciences shows that homosexuality,
masturbation, oral sex and other deviations from genital sex are something
common in the animal world. Till now, about 500 species have been found
to display homosexual behavior.

Sexual / Social Behaviour of Bonobos

Sexual
intercourse plays a major role in Bonobo society, being used as a greeting,
a means of conflict resolution and reconciliation, and as favors traded
by the females in exchange for food. Bonobos are the only apes to have been
observed engaging in all of the following sexual activities: face to face
genital sex (most frequently female-female, then male-female and male-male),
tongue kissing, and oral sex.
Sexual activity happens within the immediate family as well as outside it,
and often involves adults and children, even infants.

Evolution of the Human Brain: Sex & Survival

An essay on the evolution of the human brain beginning with the first fishes
(450 million years ago), evolving to reptiles (300 million years ago), the
first mammals (200 million years ago) and ending with homo sapiens (120
thousand years ago).

From the website: 'The growth of the cerebral cortex culminated in the
appearance of Homo Sapiens 120 thousand years ago. The primitive region
in the brain, that held the circuits for the instinctive behavior of the
reptile and the old mammal, was now completely enveloped by and buried within
the human cerebral cortex. Yet this ancient command post is still active
within us; it vies with the cerebral cortex for control of the body, pitting
the inherited programs of the old brain against the flexible responses of
the new one.'

The Hypothalamus

The hypothalamus is an exceedingly ancient structure of the brain. It is
the central core from which all emotions derive their motive force and is
highly involved in the endocrinal and autonomic nervous systems. The hypothalamus
is also sexually differentiated. That is, structurally and functionally
the hypothalamus of men and women are sexually dissimilar.

Study of the Brain while watching Pornography

By studying men watching pornographic videos, researchers in Canada have
pinpointed areas of the brain that become active when the men tried to avoid
being stimulated. In evolutionary terms, these regions of restraint (the
prefrontal cortex) are newer than the more primitive areas where the sexual
urges arise in the first place (the limbic system).

Report on Pornography, Right and Left Sides of Brain

The visual image is processed by the right side of the brain; print by
the left. The latter is rational and analytical; the former holistic and
pattern-recognising. Questions need to be asked about the impact of the
visual (whether photographic or film) image on the brain, particularly the
male brain, which recent research indicates has much less connection between
its left and right halves than the female brain, and therefore possibly
much less opportunity for the rational left to control the impulses generated
by the impressionistic right.

'Sexual Offenders and Pornography: A Causal Connection?'
by Marlene Goldsmith

When your eyes are presented with erotic images in a way that keeps you
from becoming aware of them, your brain can still detect and respond to
the images according to your gender and sexual orientation, a team of University
of Minnesota psychologists has found.
The purpose of the work was to uncover mechanisms by which the brain processes
visual information that is not consciously perceived by the subjects.

Strong Response to Erotic Pictures in both Male & Female Brains

A new study suggests the brain is quickly turned on and 'tuned in' when
a person views erotica. When volunteers viewed erotic pictures, their brains
produced electrical responses that were stronger than those elicited by
other material that was viewed (no matter how pleasant or disturbing). This
difference in brainwave response emerged very quickly, suggesting that different
neural circuits may be involved in the processing of erotic images. Women
had responses as strong as those seen in men.

Differences Between Male and Female Brains

From the essay: "Scientists have discovered that there is a brain
region in the cortex, called inferior-parietal lobule (IPL) which is significantly
larger in men than in women. The left side IPL is larger in men than the
right side. In women, this asymmetry is reversed, although the difference
between left and right sides is not so large as in men. This is the same
area which was shown to be larger in the brain of Albert Einstein, as well
as in other physicists and mathematicians.

Another study by the same group has shown that two areas in the frontal
and temporal lobes related to language (the areas of Broca and Wernicke)
were significantly larger in women, thus providing a biological reason for
women's notorious superiority in language-associated thoughts."

The Evolutionary Psychology of Human Sex and Gender

From the essay: 'The basic evolutionary pressures on males and females
are identical. Without regard for gender, genes tend to flourish which encode
phenotypes that are successful in obtaining for themselves and their relatives
(those who share their genes) healthy and regular supplies of water and
food, in procreating, and protecting themselves from diseases and injuries.

This success has ample social dimensions, and because humans are highly
social, there is a definite - if modest - gender dimorphism (differences)
in the mechanical and mental aptitudes of males and females. .. Cognitive
and emotional gender dimorphism correspond directly to dimorphism in somatic
anatomy and metabolism.'

The Evolution of Human Emotions: Culture or Biology?

From the essay: 'Because the constituents of emotions vary across languages,
some anthropologists argue that emotions are primarily cultural in nature.
However, critics note that, while labels and connotations differ across
cultures, many emotional expressions (particularly those involving the face)
are easily recognized by outsiders. This suggests that, while cultures may
determine the meaning of events that elicit emotions, and glorify, disparage,
ignore, or combine particular aspects of the emotion repertoire, the core
aspects of human emotions are species typical, and hence are likely to be
the products of selection.'

Male Sexual Evolution: Sperm, Competition and Violence

Violence is predominately a male phenomena. When it comes to sperm makers,
success is likely to crown those who outcompete their rivals, and so, in
species after species, it is the males who are larger, nastier, more likely
to be armed with lethal weaponry and a violent disposition to match. Natural
selection has outfitted males with the tools for success in male-male competition,
much of it violent.

Evolution & Puberty: Recent Trends of Early Menarche

From the essay: 'Professors Mark Hanson and Peter Gluckman published their
review of the Evolution of Puberty in Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism
(Jan. 2006). The authors discuss the various adaptive mechanisms that may
influence the early or late onset of puberty and menarche in human beings,
and argue that modern life has allowed a return to the developmental pattern
evolved for hunter-gatherer societies.'

Why do we Sleep?

All through the animal kingdom, sleep ranks right up there with food, water
and sexual intercourse for the survival of the species. Everybody does it,
from fruit flies to Homo sapiens. Yet despite its clear necessity and lots
of investigation, scientists still don't know precisely what sleep is for.

Evolution of Knowledge, Sex and Philosophy

This website is an exploration of human evolution but unlike most studies
on the evolutionary origins of man, it does not take genetics or genes as
its basic idea but epistemology, the theory of knowledge.
Man possesses much more social knowledge than does any other species and
the coevolution between our genetic and social natures has had a great impact
upon humankind. This enables an understanding of aspects of human sexuality
that have previously been mysterious, such as homosexuality and other sexual
deviations.

Male, Female: The Evolution of Human Sex Differences

This book by David C. Geary attempts to explain human sex differences from
a single theoretical perspective, Darwin's principles of sexual selection.
Rather than study gender roles (cultural constructions), which is the norm
of many social scientists, Geary explores evolutionary biology.

Analyse
any human emotion, no matter how far it may be removed from the sphere of
sex, and you are sure to discover somewhere the primal impulse, to which
life owes its perpetuation. ... The primitive stages can always be re-established;
the primitive mind is, in the fullest meaning of the word, imperishable.
... Mans most disagreeable habits and idiosyncrasies, his deceit, his cowardice,
his lack of reverence, are engendered by his incomplete adjustment to a
complicated civilisation. It is the result of the conflict between our instincts
and our culture. (Sigmund Freud)

Copyright 1997 - 2018
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thereby create new values for society, nay, even set up new moral standards
to which the life of the community conforms.
(Albert Einstein)